Highlights:

On 2 August, 39 Bangladeshis were deported.

On 8 June, 42 Bangladeshis were deported on a chartered flight.

Between 6 March and 21 April at least 34 more were sent back.

TDS Desk:

Thirty Bangladeshi nationals, including one woman, were deported from the United States last night (4 September), with allegations that they were restrained with handcuffs and leg irons during their journey.

The deportees, accused of staying in the US without valid documents, arrived at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on a specially chartered flight.

The airport’s Executive Director Group Captain Rajib Samad confirmed their arrival but said he had no knowledge of the alleged shackling.

“Everything was fine on the runway and inside the airport. What happened inside the aircraft is not within our jurisdiction,” he said.

However, several sources working with migrant welfare at the airport claimed that the returnees had indeed been chained during the flight. They added that the restraints were removed before the passengers disembarked.

Employees from different agencies at the airport said the flight landed shortly after 11pm but remained on the runway for about three hours.

During that time, the deportees’ shackles were reportedly removed before they were escorted to the arrival area around 2am under tight security, according to airport sources.

Officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, several intelligence agencies, and the US Embassy were present at the airport.

One deportee, 22-year-old Abdullah from Noakhali, told airport officials that he was devastated by the treatment.

“Throughout the long journey, I was chained like a convicted criminal. I had to return to my country in shackles like a terrorist. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone,” he said.

Airport sources added that non-governmental organisation BRAC provided the deportees with financial assistance to return to their homes.

Shariful Hasan, associate director of BRAC’s Migration and Youth Platform, criticised the practice of using handcuffs and chains during repatriation.

“It is natural for people to aspire to migrate for a better life, and destination countries have the right to return them if they choose. But deporting people in handcuffs for hours is extremely tragic. It leaves a lifelong trauma.

“We hope that repatriation processes will be carried out in a more humane way in the future, and that the US authorities will take this matter seriously,” he said.

The deportation comes amid a broader crackdown on undocumented immigrants in the US following Donald Trump’s second presidential term.

As part of the intensified operation, multiple groups of Bangladeshis and other nationals have been repatriated in recent months.

Earlier, on 2 August, 39 Bangladeshi nationals were deported from the United States.

According to sources at the Special Branch of police and the Dhaka airport, 42 Bangladeshis were deported on a chartered flight on 8 June this year.

Between 6 March and 21 April, at least 34 more were sent back on several flights.

A total of 180 Bangladeshis have been reportedly sent back this year on multiple chartered and military flights.